Why The Deep Web Is Dangerous

Anonymity. This core fundamental foundation of the Deep Web is what makes it both enticing and dangerous.

Because of the secretive nature of Deep Web, little is known about it. In a study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley in 2001, it is speculated that the Deep Web consists of about 7,500 terabytes of information and detected 300,000 deep web websites in 2004. But these figures are often misleading or inaccurate as people who are into Deep Web are experts at going into â??stealth modesâ? in order to evade detection.

This alone should serve as a warning sign to the uninitiated to stay away from it. There is a big difference between a person wanting anonymity when he is giving away a large donation to charity and wanting anonymity when he is being a trader of child pornography or weapons.

Information and transactions that could land you in jail abound in the Deep Web. In fact, it is a multi billion industry. In a study done by Nhicholas Cristin titled, â??Traveling the Silk Road: A measurement analysis of a large anonymous online Marketplace,â? the Deep Webâ??s cyber marketplace Silk Road has a total revenue of about USD 1.9 million. And this is mostly from selling drugs.

Silk Road is Deep Webâ??s version of the visible webâ??s eBay. It virtually allows anything to be sold on its marketplace with only the following restrictions,â? Do not list anything whoâ??s (sic) purpose is to harm or defraud, such as stolen items or info, stolen credit cards, counterfeit currency, personal info, assassinations, and weapons of any kind. Do not list anything related to pedophilia.â? But this is only good for Silk Road, whose top 3 sellers are weed, drugs and prescriptions. The weapons are sold under Silk Roadâ??s sister site, The Armory.

And Silk Road and Armory are not the only marketplace in the Deep Web. There are other large marketplaces like the Black Market Reloaded and the General Store. There are countless more, if you know your way around.

However, Deep Web is not only the venue for the sale or exchange of illegal goods. According to techpp.com,â??Under theÂ Surface WebÂ we donâ??t find only the activity of hackers, drug dealers, assassins, government agents, terrorists, perverts or FBI agents but thereâ??s also valuable information coming from: scientists, astronomers, physicists, sociologists and evenÂ revolutionaries.â?

Image: Surachai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Anonymity makes it possible for these individuals to engage in activities that would otherwise have landed them in jail. However, it also goes without saying that the FBI, CIA and other government agencies are trying their best to crack down these criminals. To quote an article in idependent.ie e titled, Wayne Doyle: Welcome to the Deep Web … a world of gun-running, sex trafficking and assassins for hire, â??Itâ??s not a case of just typing into Google and logging in, the deep web is complex and dangerous for those who canâ??t operate down there anonymously.â? People who go into the Deep Web know that the FBI, CIA and other government agencies put up â??bogusâ? sites for their entrapment operations.

A naive, regular person trying to go down the Deep Web is fodder for the monsters down there.